It was 15 December 2011 but Harry Kane says he “remembers it like it was yesterday”. There were 90 minutes on the clock, Tottenham were 3-0 up at Shamrock Rovers in the Europa League and there was still time for one more, still time for something that would go down as a reference point.
“Danny Rose crossed it, Andros [Townsend] headed it back across and I just kind of swivelled and hit it through the goalkeeper’s legs,” Kane says. It was his first goal for Spurs and although the 18-year-old played it cool with the celebration his insides were jumping. “Just to be playing for Tottenham at that age … and to score, it was a special feeling.”
They say that prolific centre-forwards remember every detail of every goal because for them, it is all about finding the net, only about that. The numbers are king. “I don’t know about that … if you told me the game, I could probably tell you the type of goal,” Kane says. “I don’t want you to put me on the spot.
“But every goal is special in a different way and scoring goals never gets old. It’s one of the greatest feelings I’ll ever feel. I’m just taking it all in and enjoying the moment.”
The moment in question came on Sunday at 4.45pm, Kane crashing a first-time shot past the Manchester City goalkeeper, Ederson, for Spurs goal No 267 – a club record, surpassing the mark held by the great Jimmy Greaves. (Spurs do not include the two goals Greaves scored against Ipswich in the 1962 Charity Shield.)
At that point, as Kane punched the air and waved to his family in the crowd, everything seemed to slow down, those present aware they had witnessed history. “Congratulations Harry,” read the message on the big screen at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and for a short while Kane’s achievement appeared to rise above the spectacle, standing apart. It is very rare anything checks the flow of a big Premier League game. This was one such moment.
From Shamrock Rovers to Manchester City, it has been quite the journey, one nobody foresaw when Kane was making loan moves to build himself up. Or even in 2014-15, his breakthrough season at Spurs, when people said he would go down as a one-season wonder.
Kane zeroes in on one game from that campaign when he felt everything come together, when he just knew. The turning point of his career is often cited as when he came off the bench at Aston Villa on 2 November 2014 to score a 90th-minute winner with a deflected free-kick. Thereafter, he became a first-choice selection for the Spurs manager at the time, Mauricio Pochettino.
But Kane brings up a different match – the 5-3 home win over Chelsea on New Year’s Day when he scored twice and, frankly, bullied the opposing centre-half, Gary Cahill. “Chelsea were one of the best teams in Europe, they were top of the Premier League,” Kane says. “I’d done well before then, I’d scored goals against other teams but I hadn’t done it against a big team.
“It wasn’t just my goals, it was the whole performance. It was one of my best in a Spurs shirt. That gave me the confidence I needed to know that I could do it against any team, on any stage. That was the moment that I felt like: ‘OK, I’m here to stay.’ I just had to make sure I was consistent and stayed working hard.”
There is no doubt 267 is a big number so there is plenty of choice but which have been Kane’s favourite goals? “It’s hard to say,” he says. “A couple against Arsenal at old White Hart Lane. In my first north London derby – the header. And then the one where I bent it in from the left, post and in. Those two stick in my memory.”
All that was missing on the header was a red cape fluttering behind Kane. He had already equalised for 1-1 in February 2015; then he leapt in the 86th minute to score a towering winner. The curler in March 2016 is a staple of any Kane highlights reel. The first touch to set himself after Dele Alli’s backheel by the corner flag; the shape on the finish into the far corner from halfway up the left edge of the penalty area. That put Spurs 2-1 up although Arsenal would go home with a 2-2 draw.
“The one now against City is right up there,” Kane says, partly because it ended up being the only goal of the game, earning Spurs a victory that stands to ignite their season. “It was just the atmosphere and occasion – a special goal and a special night to get three points.”
Kane has now reached 200 in the Premier League, becoming the third player to reach the milestone after Alan Shearer (260) and Wayne Rooney (208). Shearer’s top-flight total is 283 because he scored 23 for Southampton in the old First Division. Greaves holds the all-time top-flight record with a jaw-dropping 357.
All of Kane’s goals in the top-flight have come for the same club, which was not the case for Shearer, Rooney or Greaves, and he is asked whether it would be even more special to break Shearer’s Premier League record with just Spurs.
It is a cute way of getting to the elephant in the room – Kane’s intentions in the summer when he will have 12 months to run on his contract. There has been no suggestion he is ready to extend, meaning his future is once again a live story, one to be debated furiously. Kane, though, is in no mood to involve himself in that. “It’s been an amazing journey. I’ve been at Spurs since I was 11 years old, it’s 18 years of my life, a lot of hard work and dedication,” he says.
“I’m extremely proud to represent this club and score 267 goals, and 200 Premier League goals, for them. It’s something I’ll never take for granted. I’ve just got to keep it going, score as many as I can and see what happens from there.”
